Net10 & Straight Talk Wireless Taxes and Fees

When I signed up for Net10, I bought my SIM card package at the local Radio Shack. I activated it at home and paid my $50 online using my credit card, but the final cost was $54.73. Net10 charged me $3.13 in state sales tax (MA at 6.25%), $0.75 911 Service charge, $0.75 Feded Universal Service, and $0.10 Regulatory Cost Recovery.

When I sign up for the auto refill option I get a $5 discount on my bill so my monthly charge should be $49.22. I noticed that if you pay your bill with the $50 prepaid cards you pay state sales tax at the register, but not the extra fees. If I buy my pepaid cards in a tax free state, like New Hampshire, you don’t pay tax at all But the autorefill only saves me $0.78 cents.

Straight Talk on the other hand, is $45 a month and comes out to $49 with taxes and fees. If you sign up for the auto refill they offer a 2.50 discount, bringing the price down to $46. But that’s about a dollar more then just buying the prepaid cards.

I have also set up a a a family member on StraightTalk wireless, which is $45 a month. We signed up for auto refill and the monthly bill came to $49.25. Thats $45 plus $2.81 sales tax (MA @ 6.25%) plus $0.68 911 Service Charge plus $0.68 Federal Universal service plus $0.09 Regulatory cost recovery. If I just bought tax free refill cards in NH, we’d save $4.25 a month, or $51 a year, which would pay for month of service.

There was supposed to be a $2.50 discount for signing up for auto-refill by StraightTalk didn’t honor that. Customer Service said we didn’t sign up for the promotion on the correct days, but also said the sign up period was March 4-19 2013. Maybe they meant Feb. Either way, I’ll have to look into trying to get that discount or just buy the prepaid cards.

Hi John,
When you use Net10, Straight Talk, or any other prepaid cellular phone service. You pay for your service in advance. That is you pay up front. You have the option to buy refill cards or prepaid cards in a retail store like Walmart, Target, CVS, etc. You pay for the prepaid card at the register. You scratch to reveal an activation code that you enter in over the phone or the internet when you sign up for service or are refilling your minutes.

This is opposed to directly entering you credit card on their web site or over the phone.
Regards
Bob